MOSCOW, Russia – Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei
Arlovski was visibly unhappy with his performance on in the
Fight Nights "Battle of Moscow 9" headliner on Sunday night.
Originally, the 33-year-old Greg Jackson protégé had plans to
commend himself for a second stint in the Octagon with his fifth
straight knockout, but in the end he had to content himself with a
unanimous decision over a Mike Hayes
who proved to be much tougher than expected. The three judges
ringside scored the bout 30-27, 30-29 and 30-29.

Perhaps it was due to the added pressure of having to perform in
front of his Russian fans for the first time in more than 11 years,
or maybe it was because of Hayes’ great mobility and tremendous
beard, but aside from a short spurt midway through the second round
during which he was able to land some punches from top position,
the Belarusian was never really able to put his stamp on the fight.
Quite the contrary, it was Hayes who landed with more frequency and
accuracy.

“I was a little let down by my cardio today,” Hayes told
Sherdog.com after the fight. “I’m not making excuses, Andrei is a
great champion and he deserves the win, but two more weeks to
prepare could have added the fuel necessary to put even more
pressure on him. I felt that I scored with a couple of really nice
shots, but didn’t have the trust in my stamina to follow up with
more decisive leather. I’m glad that I was able to prove to myself
that I can hang with the best out there.”

In the co-headliner, top European flyweight and defending Fight
Nights 125-pound champion Ali
Bagautinov made short work of Germany’s Andreas
Bernhard, but the ending was not without controversy. Combat
sambo world champ Bagautinov dropped the Hamburg native with a
quick left-right combo and followed up with a flurry of punches on
the ground, which prompted referee Valentin Tarasov to stop the
fight. Bernhard jumping right back up like a jack-in-the-box,
making a strong argument that the action was halted
prematurely.

On the undercard, Bellator-signed “Strangler” Murad
Machaev lived up to his nickname as he choked out WFC
welterweight champion Ivica
Truscek in a 161-pound catch-weight bout. Truscek managed to
land some punches early due to his awkward standup style, but
Machaev soon took over with his wrestling and grappling prowess. A
gargling rattle from the Croatian’s throat, prompted from a Machaev
D’Arce choke, signaled to the ref that the fight was over.

More controversy overshadowed which was otherwise the “Fight of the
Night” between excellent kickboxer Akhmet
Aliev and Hungarian submission specialist Viktor
Halmi. After a first round with a little advantage for the St.
Petersburg native, Halmi came on strong late in the second stanza
as he peppered his opponent with strikes from back mount. Despite
having a clear view of the action, referee Tarasov missed an Aliev
tap a minute before the end of the round. Aliev added insult to
injury by knocking the luckless Halmi out with a liver shot in the
extra round.